Dreamality
by x-HotMess
Summary: There is always a clear line between dreams and reality. But what if the line was blurred? What if your dreams started to haunt you? Is it just bad luck? Or does someone need your help? Lilly/Oliver AU. Discontinued.
1. The Accident

Lilly had always been fascinated by dreams.

The way they can reveal everything there is to know about your subconscious. Every hope, every fear, every secret.

The look on other people faces whilst they're dreaming, their rapid eyes movements, their facial expressions. You look at the true person while they sleep. No one is cruel or spiteful while they are sleeping. They are at peace.

But sometimes you have nightmares. Some people say that if you don't like what happens, you should just change it to something better. But Lilly disagrees. She doesn't think dreams can be controlled like that. The world of dreams is a parallel of your mind, it cannot be transformed or manipulated, and it must run its course, complete its purpose, before you awake.

* * *

Lilly had a nightmare that night. It was dark, so dark, with a faint mist illuminated from an unseen light source. She saw a circle of people around her, all chanting something unrecognisable. It sounded like her friends' voices, but she couldn't see their faces. A floating candle lit above her head and she realised she was sitting on the ground. Her feet were dirty and there were dead leaves and sticks covering her long dress. She shivered and wrapped her hands around her bare shoulders, trying to warm herself. The chanting was louder now, reaching the climax. The figures were swaying, moving in time to the eerie drone. A sudden gust of freezing wind extinguished the candle; she heard something emit a high-pitched scream…

"Lillian! Get up! I don't have time to drive you to school this morning!" Her dad banged loudly on the bedroom door.

Lilly opened her eyes with a start. Morning light drifted through her purple mesh curtains, illuminating the print of Henri Rousseau's _The Sleeping Gypsy_ tacked on her bedroom wall. Her mother had sent it to her for her sixteenth birthday last year, as a bribe. It didn't work, but Lilly still kept it, as a reminder of how strong she could be, for both her dad and herself. She was never going to go and live in New York with her mother and Steven, no matter how much money Heather spent on elaborate books and art supplies for gifts. The only gift she wanted was her father to be happy again, and that was never going to happen with Heather across the other side of the country.

"Lilly! Up now, young lady!" Her dad yelled again.

She sighed. The only way to get some peace and quiet would be to answer. "Alright, I heard you the first time!" she yelled back. Her dad had been on her back recently about being on time, being a responsible adult, blah blah blah. Lilly figured it was just because he didn't want her to turn out like Heather.

Lilly lay still for a while, in her cocoon of blankets, making no move to indeed get up, and tried to ignore the unpleasant feeling in the pit of her stomach. Something bad was going to happen today. She knew it. She sighed and rolled out of bed, got dressed quickly, and moved into the bathroom. She washed her face, brushed her teeth, her mouth curved into an 'O' shape as she swiped mascara over her lashes. It's funny how people can never keep their mouth closed while putting on eye makeup. She looked at herself in the mirror and heaved a sigh. Just another regular day so far.

The sound of claws against a wooden floor came from Lilly's bedroom. **Crash. **Oh no. Gomez.

Lilly sprinted out of her and looked desperately around her room. Her school bag had been pulled off her desk, scattering stationary and various bits and pieces all over her floor. She searched around in the debris for her USB stick, containing a very important science assignment. "Dammit!" she cursed, and burst into the hallway is pursuit of her idiotic pet.

"Gomez! Here boy!" she called as she fumbled down the stairs. A fat, shaggy dog with paws the size of saucers galumphed up to her, looking shamefaced. "Where did you put it, you stupid animal? That assignment is due today!" Lilly demanded.

When Heather had finally let Lilly have a puppy the year before she left, Lilly had taught him how to play hide and seek. She would show him a rubber toy, then lock him in the laundry while she hid in somewhere around the house. Then she would let Gomez out and he would search around, nose pressed to the ground and tail wagging proudly in the air, and when he eventually found the toy, Lilly would heap praise and treats on him. But when she found a friendship bracelet Miley made her in Gomez's basket, she realized that the game worked both ways. Gomez would take something of Lilly's and hide it, and she would find it a few days later. Mostly it was fine, but her science teacher was the meanest teacher in the school, and it looked like she was going to have to face him without her assignment.

She couldn't ask her dad for help. He didn't like Gomez, always complaining about how much she spoiled him. He'd just sigh and tell her it's her own fault, and no he wasn't going to help her look for it, and she had to bear the consequences of her actions. Boring responsible adult crap. He was nothing if not predictable, and it wasn't the first time Lilly guiltily wondered if that was the reason her mother left. She avoided his gaze as she dragged her feet into the kitchen.

"You're late" he growled "You have to eat breakfast and the bus will be here any minute. I already told you I'm not driving you"

"Doesn't matter. Miley's picking me up." Lilly said curtly. They never had real conversations anymore.

She heard the beeping of Miley's car coming from the driveway. "Bye dad!" she mumbled quickly as she grabbed an apple out of the fruit bowl and swung her bag over one shoulder.

The angel broke as Lilly rounded the corner. Her empty bag strap caught on the wing as she passed it. She felt the jerk, and spun round to watch it fall, in slow motion, with the feeling of dread one has while watching the inevitable. It shattered as it hit the floor, a crystal tinkling sound echoing around the hallway. Her dad walked out of the kitchen with an alarmed expression on his face, which changed to crestfallen when he realised what had happened. Heather had given him the angel on their seventh wedding anniversary. As a child, it had fascinated Lilly to no end, and she longed for the day when she would be able to read the inscription on the bottom. How disappointed she was when she found out that it was not secret angel dialect, like she thought, but just a boring message.

_Darling Matthew; I adore you my darling, forever and eternity, until we are both angels in the sky. All my love, Heather._

And now it was smashed to smithereens, beyond repair. "Dad…dad, I'm so…" Lilly began.

"You have to go now, Lillian. Miley's waiting. I'll clean up this mess" he made a dismissive gesture towards the glittering fragments on the ground.

"Sorry." Lilly whispered, and ran out the door.

First the assignment going missing, then the angel breaking. Bad luck comes in threes, and Lilly felt fretful with anxiety when she thought about what could possibly go wrong next.

* * *

"Oh my gosh, guys, did you hear what happened last night?" Sarah gushed sombrely to Miley and Lilly walked through the entrance to Seaview.

Lilly's stomach dropped. "No, what?" Miley asked in a concerned tone.

"Oliver Oken was in a car accident!" Sarah obviously wanted to be the bearer of bad tidings. "He was with his little brother Kyle" she continued, but their friend Becca had joined them, and cut in.

"And he died!" Becca hissed with thrilled dismay.

Lilly was thunderstruck. Miley gave a cry of horror. "Oh my god, Oliver's dead?"

"What? No, Kyle is. Oliver's in a coma. He's on life support. They reckon he's not gonna make it." Becca whispered.

Why are they whispering, Lilly thought. It's not as if it's a secret. Everyone who knew Oliver would know by now. Although none of them knew Oliver Oken very well, she was still in shock. She and Oliver had talked a couple of times, mostly about the weather or teachers or school gossip, but they'd never actually had a conversation. In fact, the only time Lilly had heard him say more than 3 words strung together was in science a couple of weeks ago.

* * *

Donny and Amber were talking and asking rude questions all the way through Lilly's speech on Asperger's Syndrome. She was never any good at public speaking, and the fact that the sadistic Mr. Kelly wasn't doing anything to stop them made her even jitterier. He just sat there and watched with a smirk as Donny made moronic comments and Lilly stumbled over her words. Suddenly, Oliver Oken, the quiet, aloof boy who only came to Seaview the previous semester stood up and turned around, anger apparent on his usually passive face.

"Shut up, you cretins! She's trying to talk and I want to listen!" He yelled.

The whole class, Lilly included, stared at him with astonishment. Lilly finished her speech without another hitch, but Oliver had been forever branded in Mr. Kelly's eyes as a troublemaker, and was given a lunchtime detention. As the bell rang and they all went to leave, Lilly made her way over to Oliver's desk while he was packing away his things.

"Oliver? Thanks for that. It was fantastic!" She gushed.

He just raised his eyes to shyly meet hers with a small smile. "No problem. Your speech was really interesting."

"Yeah, I guess so" she shrugged. At that moment, Donny shoved past Oliver's desk, scattering his remaining books all over the floor.

"Asshole" Lilly sniped, as she bent over the pick them up. One of them, a sketchbook, had opened up, and a sketch of a beautiful landscape was drawn on the page.

"Wow, this is amazing!" Lilly exclaimed. "You drew this?"

Oliver just nodded modestly.

"It's gorgeous!" She marvelled. Flicking through the other pages, she fawned over more exquisite sketches and transcendent doodles. As she got closer to the end, he suddenly reached out and pried the book from her hands.

"We're late for fourth period" he reminded her.

"Crap, we are too. Thanks again, Oliver, your pictures are awesome" Lilly smiled kindly and picked up her bag. "See you round."

"Yeah, see you" he replied, so softly she barely heard him.

* * *

More details about the accident came to light over the course of the day. Oliver was driving his mother's bomb of a car. He was at the lookout at eleven o'clock at night with his little brother Kyle. No one knew why. It had been raining so the road was slippery. He skidded around a nasty corner too quickly. The car broke over the escarpment, and plunged into a net of trees twenty feet below. There still had to be an autopsy for Kyle, but apparently he was already dead but the time the rescue crew got there. Oliver had head and chest injuries, and when they finally got through the wreckage to him, he was barely alive.

Lilly felt sickened. The assignment. The angel. The accident.

Her bad luck certainly did come in threes.


	2. The Hospital

The bell rang for first period, breaking Lilly out of her despondent stupor.

First period. Science. Mr. Kelly.

Lilly sighed. Today was not her day. She didn't know if she could face that bastard today. Maybe if she just ignored him and stayed quiet for the whole class, he would forget about her. Fat chance.

"Lilly? You okay?" Miley's voice croaked timidly.

Lilly turned and made eye contact with her, opening and closing her mouth, but the only sound that came out made her sound like a drowning fish.

"Oh, Lilly. I know it's hard. See if you can grin and bear it past second period, and then we'll get outta here, kay?" Miley rubbed her back sympathetically.

Lilly just nodded and dawdled her way to her science classroom. She peeked in, spotted her favourite seat by the window and dashed over before anyone could take it. She slid into the chair as Mr. Kelly banged open the door and started rambling about how the class were going to wish they had never been born if they couldn't hand in their assignments without a sufficient excuse. Lilly just zoned him out like she usually did. Staring out the window, she slipped off into a daydream.

She imagined herself out on the beach she could see just off in the distance with all her friends. Oliver was there watching them, in that detached way he observed everything. As if he was trying to imagine how to detail their features with his pencil. She imagined his brother was there with him, as if he had never gone. Although Lilly had never seen Kyle, she figured her look just like a mini Oliver. Maybe with a different hair colour, perhaps his eyes a different shade of brown…

The wooden ruler came down on her desk with a loud crack. Lilly jumped and looked up startled, straight into the malicious eyes of her science teacher.

"Not quite enough sleep last night, Truscott? Now is neither the time nor place to catch up!" Mr. Kelly snarled. Lilly mumbled an insincere apology.

"Now, Miss Truscott, because you appeared not to hear me before, where exactly is your assignment?"

Lilly quickly weighed up her options in her head.

One; lie. Mr. Kelly would probably see right through it. Lilly was a terrible liar.

Two; tell the truth. Lilly mentally gagged. It was almost worse than my dog ate it.

Three; feign a mental breakdown. Now she was just getting ridiculous.

Lilly sighed and made her choice. "I don't have it. My dog hid it from me."

Mr. Kelly snorted obnoxiously. "Oh really, Truscott? You expect me to believe that load of claptrap?" His intentions to humiliate her in front of the entire class were obvious, and Lilly felt a surge of hate.

"It's true! It's a stupid hide and seek game we play, and he took my USB stick this morning!" Lilly argued.

"Oh, I see. Well, Miss Truscott, I'm afraid that I'm going to have to deduct fifty percent off your assignment, and you have a lunchtime detention."

"What for?" Lilly spluttered.

"For lying to me." Mr. Kelly smirked.

Lilly was outraged. It was bad enough that she had lost all those marks from her assignment, but a detention for something she didn't do was totally unfair. Fury and revulsion bubbled in her stomach as she stood up from her desk and swung her bag over her shoulder.

"What do you think you're doing?" Mr. Kelly sneered.

"Leaving!" Lilly spat.

Mr. Kelly's eyes widened in contempt "An afternoon detention as well for your insolence! How dare you…"

"NO! How dare YOU!" Lilly shrieked. "I've had enough of your shit! I hate you! We all do!" She gestured wildly to the rest of the class, whose mouths were hanging open in astonishment. Lilly took a deep breath "Go to hell, Mr. Smelly!"

Flouncing out of the classroom, Lilly was mentally banging her head against a brick wall. Two years of fear and resentment and all she could muster was a 'go to hell?' followed by a childish pun? She stormed out the school gates and onto the street. Looking back at the drab building that she had spent most of the last three years in, she emitted a frustrated scream. A woman pushing her pram over the other side of the street gave her an uneasy glance and hurried away. Lilly sighed. It was only halfway though first period; Miley wouldn't be out for another hour and a half. She didn't know of any buses than went past her house at this time of day, so what was she supposed to do? Lilly ran her hand though her hair and trudged off down the street. Maybe she could pick up some McDonalds before Miley drove her home.

* * *

Munching on her Big Mac, Lilly stared vacantly out the fast food restaurants wide window, and tried to ignore the disapproving stares and 'tsk' sounds from people who saw her. Apparently it was quite obvious she was supposed to be at school. She sighed loudly and picked up her bag. She should probably head back to school and wait by Miley's car. But somehow that thought didn't seem so appealing. Lilly made her way out onto the street, blinking as her eyes adjusted to the light. She set off, wandering aimlessly though the town.

Suddenly, she stopped dead, shook her head and came to her senses. Looking up, she realised where she was. So she walked timidly inside the building and up to the reception desk, where a blonde, blue eyed woman smiled flakily at her. "Welcome to Seaview General Hospital, how may I help you?"

After being directed to the intensive care ward, Lilly took a deep breath and tried to take her bearings.

Where was she?

The hospital.

Why was she at the hospital?

To see Oliver Oken.

Why was she seeing Oliver Oken?

She had no idea.

A nurse rounding the corner and giving her an odd look snapped her out of her trance. Lilly looked around at all the brightly coloured cards stuck on the walls. Thank you letters from children who had been in here previously, thanking all the nurses and doctors for helping them get better. An enormous poster from a girl named Annabel caught Lilly's eye. It went on and on about how positive thinking and energy helped her recover from being thrown off her horse and fracturing her skull.

"That Annabel was a darling." A voice mentioned from over near the filing cabinets.

Lilly jumped and spun round. The nurse who had appeared earlier was smiling warmly at her. "Can I help you, love?"

"I, erm, uh…I'm here to see Oliver Oken?" Lilly stammered.

"Are you related? I'm afraid we can only allow relatives in at this stage." The nurse responded.

"I'm his cousin!" Lilly blurted. The nurse raised her eyebrow sceptically. "His mom and mine are sisters."

The nurse's face softened. "Oh. That poor woman. Imagine losing one child and having another in a coma. I can't even bear to think about what she's going through. She only just went home to get some rest. Follow me please."

The nurse turned on her heel and started striding up the corridor. Lilly hurried to follow her, trying not to look into the rooms they walked past. She worried about what she would see once she got to Oliver's room. Would his body be horribly bruised? Would his bones be broken? Oh god, please don't let anything be wrong with his left arm. He needs it to draw. He needs to be able to draw again when he wakes up.

Lilly nearly ran into the nurse as she stopped outside a room with a closed door.

"Here you go, sweetie. I'm Joanna, by the way" Lilly nodded meekly and placed her hand on the doorknob.

"Don't be afraid to talk to him, you know." Joanna consoled cheerily.

"Sorry?"

"It wouldn't hurt to talk to him. He might be able to hear you. I swear, sometimes I think I've talked so much to some patients so much they've woken up just to get away from me!" Joanna giggled.

Lilly wondered how someone with such a solemn job could be so happy. She supposed that being around people who had more chance of dying than living every day meant you had to keep a sense of humour. So she smiled compliantly and swung the door of Oliver's room open.

It wasn't as bad as she thought it would be. Apart from the large white bandage swathed around his head, covering his dark hair, and the large bleeping machines surrounding him, it almost looked as if Oliver was sleeping. She turned around to tell this to Joanna, but she had already gone.

Lilly tiptoed into the room, and then smacked herself in the head. There was no need to be quiet; it wasn't as if he was going wake up just because she was walking too loudly. She took a seat in the uncomfortable chair next to his bed. Thinking about what Joanna said, she took a deep breath and started to talk.

"Hi, Oliver. It's me. Um, Lilly Truscott. I sit two rows back from you in art, and you stood up for me in science one time, remember?"

Of course he remembers. It was only a few weeks ago. Donny nearly bashed the crap out of him that afternoon. Luckily Miley had seen it coming and called the principal before Donny stopped his verbal abuse and started with the physical. Lilly gulped.

"Yeah, um, everyone at school is really worried. Amber and Ashley were like crying their eyes out, but I think that was probably 'coz they wanted to skip first period to go smoke in the bathrooms."

Come on, Lilly, you could at least say something of substance, she thought to herself.

"You're probably wondering why I'm here. Well, I ran out of science. I gave Mr. Kelly a real piece of my mind, you would have loved it. I'll probably get in deep shit for it this afternoon, but it was so worth it. And yeah, somehow I ended up at the hospital."

That still didn't explain why Lilly was there in the first place.

"Oliver, I just wanted to say that I'm really sorry about your brother, and when you wake up, I would like to be friends with you. I think it would be really nice."

Eyes watering, Lilly grasped the hand of the peaceful, unconscious boy. A tingle ran up her fingers and spread through her arm. She jerked her hand away softly, staring with amazement at her still prickling arm. It felt like she had been sitting in the same position for too long, and her arm had gone to sleep. Her nerve endings were having a party, with pins and needles tickling their way up and down her fingertips. Backing slowly out of the room without another word, Lilly turned and walked briskly down the corridor, keeping her head down until she finally made it back out onto the street. Breathing in the ocean town air, she headed back to Seaview High School.

* * *

Second period was finished, and Miley was waiting by her car for Lilly. Her eyebrows drew together with confusion when she saw Lilly was coming in the opposite direction from school.

"And where exactly have you been?" She asked condescendingly.

Lilly sighed and told her all about Gomez hiding her assignment, blowing up at Mr. Kelly, and storming out of the classroom.

"No freakin' way!" Miley shrieked "Fuck, Lilly, you're going to be in so much trouble!"

"I know" Lilly groaned.

"So where have you been since then?" Miley asked.

Lilly didn't really feel like divulging her trip to the hospital with Miley. It felt kind of secret, and special. "Oh, just went to McDonalds, then sat in the park for a little while, you know, watching the skateboarders."

That deception seemed to fly with Miley. "Okay then. Come on, let's get out of here. I got a sick pass from the nurse, practically every junior has. We're all really traumatised by Oliver Oken's accident apparently." She grunted in disgust. "Whatever. Half of these morons wouldn't even know poor Oliver's last name, let alone that he had a little brother who was just killed."

Lilly nodded in agreement, she could feel the bile rising in her throat. Miley's abhorrence also rang true with her. This school didn't care about Oliver. They only ever took notice of him after he nearly died, and even then it was because it gave them an excuse to get out of class. The thought was nauseating. But what was even more sickening was the thought that if Oliver hadn't caught Lilly's attention in science, she would probably be doing the same thing the rest of her grade was. Using his trauma as a get out of jail free card.

"Lil? Anyone home?" Miley snapped her fingers in front of Lilly's face.

"Huh?" Lilly snapped out of yet another reverie.

"I said we're can go to my place, Dad's gone on a college tour with Jackson"

"Uh, actually Miley, can you just drop me at home? I feel kinda sick."

"Sure thing. What's the matter?" Miley sounded concerned.

"Just shocked by this whole accident thing, I guess." Lilly mumbled

Miley was about to argue, knowing more was up with her friend than she let on, but decided not to push it further. She figured Lilly would tell her when she felt ready. So she dropped Lilly off, and got out of the car to give her a reassuring hug before she disappeared indoors, to where both girls know Mr. Truscott would have undoubtedly been given the news of Lilly's misdemeanour.

"Good luck" Miley whispered.

"I don't need any more luck." Lilly whispered back fiercely, and trudged up her front porch.

With a doleful glance back at Miley, she opened the front door and stepped into the house. For gleeful split second, she though her dad might not be home, that he had gone down to the school or something. But there was no such luck for Lilly today.

"Lilly? Kitchen, please!" Her dad called from inside the house.

Rolling her eyes, Lilly walked into the house and towards what she was sure was her impending doom. Even when he was about to hand down punishment, her father was still excruciatingly polite.

* * *

_This is the last chapter for a little while for any story, as I go back to school tomorrow and I really need to get my grades up, which unfortunately involves completing homework and handing assignments in on time and whatnot. So unless I have some spare time, or I get a crapload of reviews of people begging for more (unlikely), I probably won't be able to update anything for the next month or so. Sorry! I would still appreciate any reviews on this story or my completed fic 'It's All Pretend, Isn't It?'  
Peace out kids, love your stuff!_


	3. The Punishment

Lilly's father was waiting at the kitchen table, a grim expression on his face.

"Why are you home so early?" He asked in a quiet monotone.

Lilly gulped. "Dad, um, one of my friends was in a car accident, he's hurt real bad…"

"Really badly." He corrected her bad grammar. "That's the Oken boy, is it?"

Lilly was surprised he knew about it. But then again, Seaview wasn't a very big town, and word spread fast around here.

"Yeah." whispered Lilly, with a pang in her chest.

"Regardless, Lillian, that really is no excuse for how you behaved in class today. I got a phone call from your principal saying you swore at a teacher, and then walked out of his lesson. Is that true?"

"Sort of, yeah. But it's not like that! It sounds worse than it was."

She briefly considered telling him that she wasn't going back. That she was dropping out, with a nonchalant expression on her face precisely calculated to irritate him. And he would yell and lecture her, and then she could get the satisfaction of blaming him. 'Yeah, you think I screwed up, Dad? It's because I am screwed up, and it's all your fault! Mum wouldn't have left if you'd been a little bit human! You could have at least pretended to take an interest in our lives!'

But remembering the wretched look he gave her that morning, after she had broken the angel, she knew she couldn't do it. She would be doing the same thing that her mother had done to him, screaming hurtful comments at him, until Lilly, holed up in her room, couldn't take it anymore and turned her stereo up so loud it would distract her ranting, and she would yell at Lilly instead.

"Alright, what was it like, then?" Her father asked patiently.

Lilly stared at him in surprise. She didn't expect that he would be interested in her side of the story. He usually believed what he was told by other people, get angry, ground her, and give her the silent treatment. She could tolerate the grounding; she didn't mind being confined to her room, her books, and her paintings. But it was him not talking to her she couldn't stand. It made her feel like she wasn't worthy of his love. So Lilly took a deep breath, and told him the truth. Well, part of it anyway.

"I couldn't find my assignment, because Gomez hid it, and I figured you would get mad at him and make him stay out of the house."

Lilly's dad nodded; that was an honest assumption. Lilly continued. "And so when I was in class, Mr. Kelly hit my desk with the ruler, really hard, for absolutely no reason"

"And Mr. Kelly's your Math teacher, is he?" Her dad interrupted.

Lilly groaned. She wished her mother was here. Not only would she have known who Mr. Kelly was, but she would know exactly how much Lilly and the rest of the school loathed him. "No, Dad, science. I was in science. I told him about Gomez, and he didn't believe me and gave me a detention."

"So instead of trying to discuss it reasonably with him, you told him to go to hell and walked out?"

"It's not as if you can be reasonable with Mr. Kelly, Dad! He's the most sadistic person I've ever met, he enjoys people being upset!" Lilly retorted hotly.

"I understand that, Lilly, but what I can't understand it why you had to lose control and your dignity by walking out!" Her father replied calmly.

"I would have lost my dignity if I stayed!" She spat.

He looked at her in shock for a split second, and the bowed his head in acceptance. "So, where have you been since then?" He demanded.

"I went into town until Miley drove me home." She muttered, staring determinedly at the ground.

"Yes, well, I was told you're suspended for the rest of the week, and you have to write a letter of apology to Mr. Kelly." Her father informed her.

"WHAT?" Lilly shrieked, looking up in outrage. "That's bull…poop!" She changed tack as she saw the disapproving look on her father's face. "That's not fair! If it had been Donny, or Amber, or any of those other dropkicks, they would have gotten a Saturday detention, max! This is a joke, right?"

"There is no joke about truancy, Lillian. You can help me in the shop when you're not doing homework, and I expect the apology to be written by Friday. And as for the trip to Los Angeles for that concert with Miley, you can forget about it. You're grounded."

Lilly groaned, and stomped off up the stairs. This was ridiculously unfair. She hated working in her dad's waterfront café, and she had been really looking forward to going to the Muse concert later that month. She glared at the shaggy dog who slapped his tail against her rug as she entered her room.

"Get lost, you stupid mutt. This is all your fault." She pushed his hot, heavy body away from her legs as she slumped on her window seat.

Sensing his mistress was upset, Gomez tried to make her feel better by returning the item he had stolen that morning, dropping the memory stick at her feet in a puddle of drool. Lilly just scoffed and pulled her legs to her chest, letting one hand rest on her dog's furry ears. She stared out of her window and towards the sea. You couldn't see the beach from her room. You could only see the never ending ocean over the tree tops, as it disappeared over the horizon. Pressing her forehead against the cold, glass pane, Lilly let a tear trickle down her cheek.

The world was so messed up. How could heartless bastards like Mr. Kelly be allowed to continue tormenting people, while innocent little boys like Kyle Oken had to perish due to an accident? Oliver and his brother could have given so much to the world; they had so much potential. Now Kyle was gone, and nobody knew if or when Oliver would regain consciousness.

And what if he did regain consciousness? Would he be stricken with guilt over his little brother's death? Lilly wished she knew him better; then she would be able to tell him it wasn't his fault. The lookout road was infamous around Seaview, but he wasn't a local, he was new, he couldn't have possibly known.

It just all seemed so wrong. Why had this happened to these boys? Lilly had never believed in Christianity. Both her parents weren't avid church-goers, and they never bothered to pass on any sort of faith to her, allowing her to make her own decisions. Over the years, Lilly was only more convinced that there wasn't a God. Natural disasters, bullies, and her parents' fighting had made sure of that. But she had always believed in some sort of higher power, something bigger than just life and love and human beings. Some force that kept the world in balance, a reason that some things do happen for a reason. But even now, Lilly couldn't see how this accident could be justified by fate or destiny.

* * *

She was conveyed out of her thoughts by a wet feeling against the palm of her hand. She withdrew her hand with a jerk, startling Gomez, who had obviously been trying to get her attention for some time. She wiped her hand, covered in dog saliva, on her shirt and stood up, cringing. Her muscles were stiff from being in the same position for so long. She hadn't realised how late it had gotten, she'd been staring out her window until the late hours of the afternoon. She exited her room and traipsed down the stairs, and froze as she heard her father talking on the phone.

"She is doing just fine, Heather! Her friend was in an accident, she's just a little rattled, that's all." He fumed into the receiver.

Lilly made her way into the living room, where her father was sitting stiffly on the sofa. He smiled weakly at her as she entered, and interrupted the babbling on the other line. "She's right here, do you want to talk to her?"

He handed Lilly the receiver as she sat down next to him, and stood abruptly. "It's your mother." He told her blankly, before trudging into the kitchen.

Lilly frowned at his back. She wished for a moment that he would at least acknowledge her mother that he would get angry, or frustrated. Anything but this cold, devoid detachment.

"Hey," Lilly spoke into the phone.

"Lilly, sweetie, are you okay? Your father told me about school today." Heather anxiously prattled.

Lilly wrinkled her nose. She hated how her parents only referred to each other as "your mother' and 'your father', like she was the only thing they allowed themselves to have in common. It was if they'd never lived together years before her birth or travelled around the world or even been in love at all. "Yeah, I'm fine." She replied sullenly.

"You must have been really mad, even with Mr. Kelly, to blow up like that. And then your friends accident, that must be really hard."

"I guess," Lilly replied monotonously.

Heather made another attempt to converse with her child that she had once been so close with. "I'm so worried about you, I'm sorry I can't be there with you right now…"

"Yeah, right. How's Steven, by the way?" Lilly asked spitefully. There was no was she was going to let her mother get away with pretending her main priority was her daughter.

"He's, um, good. We've been in Boston for the last few weeks, finishing up a gig there." Heather stammered.

Silence.

"He sends his regards!" Heather babbled rapidly, trying to fill the abyss of conversation. "We've been thinking, actually, and maybe you want to come stay with us, like a vacation, I mean."

"No thanks. Wouldn't want to leave Dad."

Lilly sensed Heather wincing. _Good_, she thought vengefully, then guiltily. Why was it like this? Usually, when Lilly thought about her mother, she felt loving, sometimes even understanding of why she needed to get away. And no matter how much she tried to hate Steven, she had to grudgingly admit that he wasn't that bad. He seemed to genuinely love Heather. So why then, whenever she received a phone call, email or postcard from her mother, did she feel a surge of hate?

How dare she leave them. How dare she leave Lilly.

"Look, I have to go. There's a show I want to watch on TV." Lilly lied, knowing how her last comment would have irked Heather, who had always closely monitored the amount of time Lilly spent in front of the 'idiot box'.

"Oh… well then, if I'm keeping you... Bye, sweet heart, I love you." Heather replied dejectedly.

"You too," Lilly hung up. It disgusted her to see her opinionated, feisty mother admit defeat on an issue she always felt so strongly about. She felt a little bit uncomfortable about using Heather's placating, peaceful attempts at friendship to get her own way, like she was afraid of her own daughter. But there wasn't really anything Heather could do. The only thing she could say that would make a difference was 'I'm coming back', and that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, she was nice and cosy with Steven all the way over in New York.

Lilly wandered into the kitchen to put the receiver back in its cradle. She met her dad's sad eyes, and moved over to wrap her arms around his middle. He placed his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. She pulled back and smiled at him gratefully.

"What do you want for dinner?" He asked.

"Actually, Dad, I'm stuffed. I think I'm just going to go to bed." She sighed tiredly. That creepy dream she had the night before had taken a toll on her hours of sleep.

"Okay. I'll leave some cold meat out just in case. Good night, Lilly." He gave her a final hug, before she went back upstairs.

She shooed Gomez out of her room, and flopped down on her bed. She picked up the book that she was meant to be reading for English, but it was so tedious, and there were so many sublevels to the plot, that Lilly was asleep within five minutes.


	4. The Dream

It was cold.

So, so cold.

Lilly sat up and looked around her. She was not in her room. She was on a barren, deserted wasteland. She tried to stand up, and tripped over her long dress. Lilly looked down in surprise. Why was she wearing a dress? She hated dresses! But this dress was unlike any other she had seen before.

It was a sky blue colour, tight around her torso, and flowed out around her waist and legs until it came to a graceful halt at her feet. Slender, white threads traced swirling patterns around the elegant skirt, and gold ribbons kept the dress tight around her bust. Her shoulders were bare. With a shock, she realised this was the same dress she had been wearing in last night's dream. It had been too dark to see then. She picked up the silken fabric in her fingertips. This was not Lilly's kind of dress. This is the kind of dress a princess would wear in a fairytale or cartoon, or in the fantasy books she loved.

She dropped the light skirt and shivered again, looking around for a source of warmth. The ground beneath her bare feet was cold and stony. There was nothing but bare earth as far as the eyes could see, apart from an ominous looking mountain range in the distance. There were no signs of life, no trees, no animals scurrying under rocks. Nothing.

It was terrifyingly hopeless, and Lilly felt a rising panic. There were no colours in this place, except for black and grey, and Lilly in her blue dress made her feel like a big flashing light, saying to any potential predators 'come and get me!'. Murky clouds churned ominously above her head. What was she doing here? Where was here anyway?

Then Lilly realised what made this place so despairing. It wasn't just the lifelessness stretched around her. It was the total lack of sound. Silence. She listened desperately for the slightest noise. But there was none. She had an urge to call out, but that was quashed with the fear of what would happen once she did. The stillness seemed to forbid it.

_This is not right_, Lilly thought, squeezing her eyes shut tightly. _This is not right, I am not here. My name is Lilly Truscott and I live in Seaview, California, and I am not here_.

The chilling wind raised goose-bumps all over Lilly's body. She wrapped her arms tightly around her body_. I am dreaming. In a minute I will wake up in my bed. This is just a bad dream. WAKE UP!_

She opened her eyes, and nearly screamed in frustration. There was no escape. Her teeth were chattering, and her entire body was convulsing in shudders, trying to keep warm. Lilly figured if she was to avoid freezing to death, she would need to start moving. The jagged mountains looked most promising for shelter, so she set off across the stony ground.

Not only was she not used to walking in a bulky dress, but the stones that scattered the desolate plain in front of her bruised her feet as they grated against each other, slipping as she put weight on them. It was nearly impossible to even walk at all. But the frustration of trying to move forward was a welcome relief from the fear she felt for her surroundings. Tears of aggravation, pain and fright began to drip down her face.

Through her tear-blurred vision, she saw something move in front of her, and froze in shock. Wiping the moisture from her eyes, she blinked rapidly, trying to see clearly. It was a blond child, skipping across the stones, apparently oblivious to Lilly's very presence. He danced about as Lilly gulped as summoned the courage to break the deafening silence.

"Hello? Hello, can you help me? Hey, wait! Wait!" Lilly cried.

The boy either couldn't hear her, or chose not to.

"Stop! Please!" Lilly begged as she stumbled after him, gathering her long skirt in her hands.

The little boy paused, turned and stared at her blankly. She wasn't sure if he was deciding whether she was a threat, or if she was even worth his time. He must have decided the latter, because he faced away and began to skip away from her once again.

Choking out profanities, Lilly began to run after him, wincing as the ground jabbed at her soft feet. The child was considerably ahead of her, and she realised that the flatness of the grey wasteland was deceiving. She was following him into a shallow, crater-like ditch that must stretch out further than she could see, and dipped at her feet, growing deeper by the second. The child reached the bottom of the gully, and lingered apprehensively, waiting for Lilly to reach him. She faltered at the edge of the dry, cracked riverbed before taking a step towards him.

She shrieked as her feet sunk into the mud that was hiding under the thin ground covering it, and fell back onto the embankment. The boy giggled obnoxiously, and she shot a glare in his direction. He just smiled disingenuously, and continued his unorthodox dance across the puzzle pieces of the colourless earth. Lilly pushed herself up and despairingly chased after him. She didn't try to call out to him again, fearful of what would happen if she did. She muffled a cry as another piece of soil shifted and she was pitched forward. She steadied herself just in time, before she landed face first in the cold muck.

Another involuntary tear fell from her eye. Why was she even following this stupid kid? Then she thought of the alternative. He was the first sign of life Lilly had seen in this godforsaken place, and she'd be damned if she was going to let him get away. He was another person, another human being. He can't be alone, he was a young child; he must have a family somewhere that would know how to survive here. So she took a purposeful step forward, and another, and another, lightly placing her body weight over the delicate clay.

The boy had stopped and was peering at something in the dirt. He didn't appear to be in such a hurry any more. He slowly turned to face Lilly with an expressionless face as she approached him. She took an automatic step back as she try to read his unfathomable features. He was completely naked, with a shock of blond hair that probably would have shone like straw if there was ever any sunlight, and clear blue, intimidating eyes. He didn't break his gaze as he took a small step towards her, his feet sinking into the gluggy muck.

"Step on a crack, break your father's back," he chanted with a ghost of a smile.

Lilly was chilled by his words. She knew the game. She'd played it herself. But when it came out of the child's mouth it almost sounded threatening. She waited for him to continue, but he remained silent.

"Who are you? What is this place?" She whispered hesitantly.

"Gamova. This is Gamova." He answered in the same inauspicious tone as before.

_Gamova_. Was that his name, or where they were? At least he was talking. Lilly made another attempt for information.

"I'm Lilly. I'm not from here, and I'm trying to get back to where I live. Can you help me?"

The boy cracked a smile, revealing a gleam of white teeth. It was quite unnerving. He nodded, and Lilly sighed with relief.

"You shouldn't be here. Bad things are going to happen. Very, very bad things." He spoke again.

Lilly's breath caught in her throat. "I know I shouldn't be here. I don't belong. I just want to go home."

Before she'd even had time to blink, the child had grasped her hand in an iron grip, and started to run, dragging Lilly along beside him. She was stooped over, with one hand holding her dress, the other encased in the boy's strong fingers. She gasped as she saw a valley opening ahead of her, and she tried to pull free. But the little boy's grip was unrelenting, and so she tried to ignore the pain shooting through her feet and pounding in her chest.

They entered the valley, and the child's pace quickened. Lilly screamed at him to stop, terrified of her tripping and cracking her head open on one of the sharp boulders lining the gorge. But he took no heed to her words, and continued to yank Lilly along the perilous path, tightening his hand around hers. She felt as if all the bones in her fingers were being crushed.

Finally, the trail began to even out, and widen. The boy slowed to a walk, and Lilly wheezed as they come to a sudden halt. They had reached a small stream pooling at the foot of a stone ledge, and the boy bent over and began to drink the water, motioning for Lilly to do the same. She welcomed the cool liquid that flowed over her sore hand, and cupped her hands together to drink. But she stopped as she spotted something unfamiliar on the wall of the ravine.

There, on the cliff side, were the most exquisite creations she had ever seen. Weird, winged beings and exotic beasts were painted across the stone canvas that stretched past her head and along the rock face. Each picture had been drawn with such meticulous detail it was almost hard to believe they were part of this horrible place. They also seemed hauntingly familiar.

Seeing Lilly staring, the little boy walked over to one particular drawing of something that looked oddly like a warped cat. He spat on his fingers and slowly began to wipe at it, removing it from the rock.

"NO!" Lilly exclaimed at his nonchalant desecration.

But the child picked up a small black stone at his feet and began to sketch over the small section he had erased. When he pulled back, it was possibly even more perfect than before. He turned and looked at Lilly, and she smiled in approval and awe. But the expression on his face flickered as he caught sight of something that had bypassed his interest before. He walked closer to her and reached towards her chest, and Lilly self-consciously crossed her arms over her breasts. But she realised it was the silver locket she always wore around her neck that had fixed his gaze.

He pulled back abruptly and stared at her with his familiar blank face. "Tell anyone and you're dead."

Lilly stepped back in surprise. What the hell did he mean by that? He just smiled his intimidating smile once again and bent to drink some more water. Lilly felt herself overcome with thirst and she hunched over beside him, observing him closely to be sure that the water wasn't tainted. Satisfied and his incessant slurping, she cupped water in her hands and brought it to her lips.

"STOP!"

A man she had never seen before sprung from behind the boulders, and she only had time to see the crestfallen look on his face before everything went black.

* * *

Lilly felt like she was being sucked into a whirlpool, with no air, no light, and no sound. She was drowning. She began to panic. She felt paralysed.

_Move, come on! Just move your thumb, your nose, anything!_ Her mind screamed at her. She focused all her concentration on just moving her pinkie finger a fraction. It twitched, and suddenly all her senses came flooding back. She could open her eyes. She looked round and saw the poster of the sleeping gypsy, bathed in purple light, like she did every morning. She could hear Gomez scratching at her door. She could smell her father cooking breakfast downstairs.

She frantically sat up in her bed, feeling her sheets, her pillows, her body, just to be certain that they were really there. She heaved a sigh of relief and flopped backwards.

_It was just a dream_.

She wanted to write it down. She wanted to talk about it with someone, anyone. How it all felt so genuine, how everything she touched there was frighteningly realistic. But the words of the little boy scared her. She couldn't tell anyone, she couldn't say anything. She scoffed at herself for being frightened of a child in a silly nightmare, but on the other hand, it was the most real thing she'd ever experienced in her sleep. And how come her feet hurt so much?


	5. The Beach

"Morning." Lilly mumbled as she limped into the kitchen, the soles of her feet prickling with soreness.

"You're up early." Her dad commented.

Lilly responded with a low hum. She wasn't a morning person to begin with, and her father's attempt at small talk over breakfast was something she was not in the mood for, especially not after that dream.

"I'm heading into town in half an hour. Be ready to go by then, I'm going to need your help today." Her dad continued.

Lilly rolled her eyes, refusing to look up from her cereal. It's not that she hated the café, or the people that worked there. She hated it because she thought it was a waste of her father's time. Time that would be better spent talking to his daughter, his wife, engaging in actual conversations, instead of spending all of it couped up, working out budgets and orders and staff rosters.

"Did you hear me, young lady?" Her father barked.

"Yes." Lilly replied monotonously.

"Well then, perhaps in future you will be courteous enough to acknowledge me when I am talking to you." He retorted.

"Okay." Lilly sighed, dumping her plate in the sink and heading back upstairs to her room.

She wasn't in the mood to argue with him today. Her thoughts were too wrapped up in her dream from last night. Gamova was beyond the limits of Lilly's own imagination. It did not belong to her. There was nothing from her life tying her there. It was like she'd been picked up and dropped in a complete stranger's world. Not only did she feel like she was intruding, but she also felt violated. She didn't want to go there. Something was forcing her.

* * *

Lilly was dressed and ready promptly on time, for once, and was sitting in her father's car, ready to go, half and hour later.

"Are you wearing that to work?" Her dad looked down his nose at her.

"What's wrong with it?" Lilly objected, pulling out her royal blue Superman t-shirt to look at it. She thought it went fine with her black denim shorts and neon Nikes.

"Nothing, it just wouldn't hurt to dress a bit more appropriately." Her dad shrugged as her started to back out the driveway.

"How is this inappropriate?" Lilly exclaimed.

"You're a sixteen year old girl, Lillian. Don't you own any clothes that are more ladylike that that?" He grunted.

"No!" Lilly snapped. She nearly said '_I don't have a mother to go shopping with_', but decided against it. She didn't need to make her father more disgruntled. Besides, any mention of ladylike clothes just made her think of the beautiful dress she had worn last night in Gamova. She didn't know if she ever wanted to own something like that again.

Her father sensed her anger, and dropped the subject. They was an uncomfortable silence between them for the rest of the car ride, which meant Lilly had more time to think about Gamova. Goosebumps prickled her arms as she thought about the blond boy, and his last threatening words. And what did that man want from her? She wasn't special. He didn't even know her. What reason could he possibly have had for such a wretched facial expression the instant she left?

"We're here." Her father's voice broke her out of her thoughts.

Lilly breathed deeply as she got out of the car, taking in the ocean air, her eyes scanning over the landscape of Seaview Beach. She loved the beach. It exhilarated all her senses.

She loved the soothing sound of the waves crashing to the shore, and the background hush of the wind that always seems to be there, even if she couldn't feel it. She loved the smell and taste of the salt in the air, because there was something always so promising about it. She loved the feeling of the sand between her toes, when the tide starts creeping in around her feet, the ocean keeps pulling the sand out from under her, making her sink, inch by inch.

But most of all she loved the sight of the beach. She loved how the two different shades of blue met at the horizon, past the yellow sand littered with all types of people. There were the bedraggled surfers, going out for one more wave. There were the bleached blonde, tanned poster girls, stretched out on their towels, bronzed bodies soaking up the sun's rays. There were the parents with a minivan full of kids, trying to get them to stop eating sand and put on their sunscreen. There were the sports nuts, jogging and playing volleyball and fishing. And Lilly loved how all of these different people could all come together on common ground for their love of the coastline.

As Lilly looked out over the sand, she felt an overwhelming sense of belonging. This is where she was meant to be. Here, in Seaview, the complete opposite of Gamova. Where there was colour and laughter and movement. This was her place.

"Lilly! Get a move on, please!" Her dad cried, exasperated. "Suspension is not a holiday!"

"I know." Lilly groaned, as she dragged herself inside the café.

"Right, I'm going to have you help Cooper in the kitchen today. You'll be on coffees and beverages." Her father shooed her into the back, where she greeted one of her life long friends, Cooper.

Lilly had known Cooper for years, as he had lived next door for nearly 12 of them. He was in the same year as Miley's brother, and they often found themselves at the Stewarts house for the same reason. Avoiding their arguing parents.

Lilly thought Cooper got lucky. His parents got a divorce when he was eleven. She had to put up with it for seven more years, as it got worse and worse.

After leaving high school, Cooper had followed his passion, and became an apprentice chef. And surprisingly, for some who goofed off so often, he was really good. Naturally, Lilly's father had offered him a job, right before her mom left.

"Hey Lil, don't have time to talk now, I'll catch up with you at the end of the shift, okay?" Cooper talked over his shoulder as he mixed some sort of batter on the stainless steel counter.

"Cool." Lilly shrugged, and busied herself with figuring out how to turn on the coffee machine.

The rest of the morning Lilly was too busy to think about her dream and Gamova. The Seaview café was very popular amongst the town-folk, and so Lilly was preoccupied making espressos, cappuccinos and decaf lattes most of the time, chatting with the customers and sharing a joke or two with Cooper, and on one occasion, her father. Lilly smiled at his laughter. She hadn't heard it in a long time. So by the time the shift had finished, it was two o'clock in the afternoon, and Lilly was exhausted, but satisfied. She couldn't believe she actually enjoyed working.

"Time to clean up, there's no afternoon shift on Tuesdays." Her dad walked into the kitchen after closing up front. "You did a good job today."

"Yeah, don't hold this against me, but I actually had a good time." Lilly giggled. "I can see why you like this so much."

"Yes, well, it's just what I've always wanted to do. Run my own business, be my own boss. I couldn't ask for anything better." Her dad smiled softly.

"Hey, Mr. T, I'm out for today. I have to go see my mom tonight." Cooper flung his apron over his head and onto a hook, and dashed over to give Lilly a quick hug. "I'm so proud of you, Lil." He whispered in her ear.

"What for?" Lilly murmured back, perplexed.

"For being so brave. I can't believe you swore at Mr. Kelly! That's so awesome, I wish I could have seen it." Cooper pulled back and beamed at her, his white teeth flashing against his dark skin.

Lilly's brow wrinkled as she stared at him in silent thanks, but at her father's loud cough reminded them of his presence, and they sprang apart.

"I'll call you tonight." He kissed her cheek and jogged out the door, with a wave at Lilly's father as he left.

"I've got a few errands to run, and then we're going home." Lilly's father said curtly.

"Sure. Do you want me to balance the till?"" Lilly offered.

"No, I've already done it." He responded. "I like to know what I've earned. It makes all the effort worthwhile."

Lilly was stunned. This was the closest thing they'd had to a conversation in years, and she was beginning to get a powerful insight into Matthew Truscott. He was the epitome of the saying 'still water runs deep'. Lilly had always thought that he only saw things in black and white; there was no grey area for him. Everything was either right or wrong. But annoyingly practical as he was, she couldn't help but love him. There must be something special about him, if he got her wild and unpredictable mother to fall in love with him.

And he hadn't abandoned Lilly for someone else.

But why would a calm and stable man like Matthew fall for a woman like Heather? "Dad, what made you fall in love with Mom?"

Lilly regretted asking as soon as she said it. Her father's face darkened, and he refused to meet her eyes. "I don't want to talk about it." He snarled.

She was furious with herself for pushing her dad's emotional boundaries when he'd only just relaxed them, and forced herself not to cry as she went back to wiping countertops. Lilly wasn't a crier, she never had been. She barely shed a tear when Heather told her about Steven. _I must still be rattled from that bloody Gamova dream_, she thought. What could have triggered something like that? _Well, yesterday wasn't exactly a normal day. I broke the angel, got suspended from school and found out Oliver Oken is in a coma._

Lilly thought back to her visit to the hospital the day before, and seeing Oliver. She stared at the palm of her hand as she tried to recall the tingling feeling she got when he touched his arm. It was like trying to remember the feeling of a kiss; no amount of memory can relive the actual thing. It could have been all that equipment he had been hooked up to, but she doubted it. It wasn't that kind of electric shock. Something strange had happened between them.

With a jolt, Lilly realised the dream must have had something to do with that connection. Lilly suddenly realised why the drawings on the wall looked so familiar. She had seen those types of drawings before.

In Oliver Oken's sketchbook.

But in Gamova, the drawings were done by the little mysterious boy. It made no sense.

One thing was for sure. Oliver Oken had something to do with Gamova. And Lilly needed to find out as much about that as she could. She needed to see him again.

* * *

_Hmm. I'm not really into this story anymore, to be honest. To continue or not to continue? That is the question. _


End file.
